Impacts of Knowledge Management on Proposal Win Rate, Time to Create Proposals and Utilization of Resources: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

Purpose: Proposal management (PM), a process that involves generating and managing proposals for contracts before presenting them to potential clients, can be enhanced and streamlined through effective knowledge management. This research paper explores the influence of knowledge management practices on Proposal win rates and resource utilization within organizations that frequently engage in Proposal management. Design or Methodology: The study, which uses a “mixed-methods approach”, presents both qualitative and quantitative evidence illustrating the importance of effective information management in boosting Proposal success, reducing proposal creation time, and optimizing resource allocation. The survey was sent to around 500 professionals and 101 responses were received. 30 interviews were conducted which provided in-depth insights about the topic. Reliability analysis and Paired T-test were conducted to test the hypothesis. Findings: The descriptive and empirical analysis demonstrated that the implementation of knowledge management software significantly increases the win rate (p=0.000), reduces the “average team size” (p=0.000), and reduces the time to create a proposal by leveraging the reusability of data (p=0.000) indicating increased efficiency with tools such as Microsoft SharePoint which is the most widely leveraged tools among respondents. Originality or Value: This study enriches existing literature by empirically demonstrating the impact of efficient knowledge management on tendering or bidding procedures, a matter of great importance to companies and members involved in these selling processes. Second, this research provides a correlation between knowledge management, win rate, time, and resource utilization which have not been studied earlier.

Keywords: Proposal Management, Knowledge Management, Tendering Process, Efficiency, Resource Utilization, Win Rate

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